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Peep and the Big Wide World

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Peep and the Big Wide World
Also known asPeep
GenreEducational
Children's television series
Comedy
Created byKaj Pindal[1][2]
Directed byRick Marshall
Voices ofScott Beaudin (1-3)
Shawn Molko (4)
Maxwell Uretsky (5)
Jamie Watson
Amanda Soha
Narrated byJoan Cusack
Theme music composerSteve D'Angelo
Terry Tompkins
Opening theme"Peep and the Big Wide World" performed by Taj Mahal
Ending theme"Peep and the Big Wide World" (instrumental)
Country of originCanada
United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes60 (120 segments + 120 live-action segments)
Production
Executive producerKate Taylor
ProducersVince Commisso
Marisa Wolsky
Running time22–25 minutes
Production companiesWGBH Boston
9 Story Entertainment
Eggbox LLC
National Film Board of Canada
Original release
NetworkTVOKids (Canada)
TLC (2004–08) and Discovery Kids (2004–10) (seasons 1-3) (U.S.)
PBS Kids Member Stations (seasons 4-5) (U.S.)
ReleaseApril 12, 2004 (2004-04-12) –
September 14, 2007 (2007-09-14) (seasons 1-3)
ReleaseFebruary 2, 2010 (2010-02-02) –
October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14) (seasons 4-5)

Peep and the Big Wide World is an animated children's television series created by Danish-Canadian animator Kaj Pindal. It revolves around the lives of Peep, Chirp, and Quack, as viewers discover, investigate, and explore the world around them.[3]

The show was based on the 1988 short film of the same name produced by the National Film Board of Canada,[4] which itself is based on the 1962 short film The Peep Show,[5] also produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The series premiered on April 12, 2004, on Discovery Kids and on TLC as part of their Ready Set Learn! children's block in the United States, and on TVOKids in Canada. It was produced by WGBH Boston (through its kids division WGBH Kids) and 9 Story Media Group (formerly 9 Story Entertainment; in its debut production), in association with TVOntario and Discovery Kids and is distributed by Alliance Atlantis (through AAC Kids).

Carriage on the Discovery children's networks ended on October 10, 2010 with the discontinuation of Ready Set Learn! and the replacement of Discovery Kids with The Hub, and now, Discovery Family. The series was offered to public television stations via independent public television distributor American Public Television from April 1, 2007,[6][7] through January 3, 2018.[8] Beginning January 1, 2018, the series was distributed by PBS Kids.[9] U.S. broadcasts ended December 26, 2021.

Throughout its run, it has been underwritten by the National Science Foundation,[10][11][12] with Northrop Grumman underwriting season four in 2010.

Each episode consists of two 9-minute stories, which are animated segments, and two 2-minute live action segments, in which children explore and demonstrate the same topic presented in the animated segment. The show is narrated by Joan Cusack.[13]

Overview

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Viewers follow Peep, Chirp, and Quack as they investigate and explore the world around them. Following the 9-minute animated episode, there is a 2-minute live-action segment which features children exploring and demonstrating the same topic presented in the episode. The animation consists of bright colors and simple shapes, which simulates and reflects a youthful art style.

Episodes

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SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
126April 12, 2004 (2004-04-12)May 17, 2004 (2004-05-17)
213November 14, 2005 (2005-11-14)September 27, 2006 (2006-09-27)
310April 16, 2007 (2007-04-16)September 14, 2007 (2007-09-14)
46February 2, 2010 (2010-02-02)July 17, 2010 (2010-07-17)
55October 10, 2011 (2011-10-10)October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14)

Season 1 (2004)

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Episode № Segment names Original airdate Prod code
Total Season First segment Second segment
1 1 Spring Thing Springy Thingy 12 April 2004 110
2 2 A Duck's Tale Quack's Tracks 13 April 2004 101
3 3 Quack and the Very Big Rock Shadow Play 14 April 2004 102
4 4 Current Events Quack Loses His Hat 15 April 2004 103
5 5 Night Light Sounds Like... 16 April 2004 104
6 6 The Windy Day Peep Feet 19 April 2004 105
7 7 Newton's Big Adventure Peep Crosses the Road 20 April 2004 106
8 8 Stormy Weather Peep in Rabbitland 21 April 2004 107
9 9 Quack's Stuck Stick Peep's Can 22 April 2004 108
10 10 Under Duck All Fall Down 23 April 2004 109
11 11 The Perils of Peep and Chirp Hoop Tricks 26 April 2004 111
12 12 Save It For Later The Red Ballmoon 27 April 2004 112
13 13 Chirp Builds a Nest Stuck Duck 28 April 2004 113
14 14 The Real Decoy Peep's Lost Leaf 29 April 2004 114
15 15 Birds of a Feather The Incredible Shrinking Duck 30 April 2004 115
16 16 Go West Young Peep A Delicate Balance 3 May 2004 116
17 17 The Fish Museum Peep's Night Out 4 May 2004 117
18 18 There's No Place Like Home Flipping Newton 5 May 2004 118
19 19 Chirp's Flight Program Mirror Mirror in the Dump 6 May 2004 119
20 20 Bridge the Gap Meeting Half-Way 7 May 2004 120
21 21 Peep Plants a Seed The Root Problem 10 May 2004 121
22 22 Hide and Go Peep A Peep of a Different Color 11 May 2004 122
23 23 That's a Cat Faster than a Duck 12 May 2004 123
24 24 Quack Hatches an Egg The Whatchamacallit 13 May 2004 124
25 25 Wandering Beaver Peep's New Friend 14 May 2004 125
26 26 The Trip to Green Island Give Me a Call 17 May 2004 126

Season 2 (2005-2006)

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Episode № Segment names Original airdate Prod code
Total Season First segment Second segment
27 1 Finders Keepers Quack Quiets the Universe 14 November 2005 201
28 2 Peep's Moon Mission The Many Moons of Quack the Duck 15 November 2005 202
29 3 The Mystery of the Thing That Went and Came Back Peep's Color Quest 16 November 2005 203
30 4 Reflection Affection Peep Deep in the Big Muddy 17 November 2005 204
31 5 Chirp Sorts it Out (Sort Of) Hear Here! 19 September 2006 205
32 6 Dry Duck 18 November 2005 206
33 7 Snow Daze Flower Shower 5 December 2005 207
34 8 Who Stole the Big Wide World? M-U-D Spells Trouble 20 September 2006 208
35 9 Finding Time Smaller than a Peep 21 September 2006 209
36 10 Quack Quack One Duck Too Many 18 September 2006 210
37 11 Count Them Out Peep Prints 25 September 2006 212
38 12 Stick With Me Tree Feller 26 September 2006 211
39 13 A Daring Duck The Trouble With Bubbles 27 September 2006 213

Season 3 (2007)

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Episode № Segment names Original airdate Prod code
Total Season First segment Second segment
40 1 The Tooth, the Whole Tooth, and Nothing but the Tooth The Winter of Quack's Discontent 16 April 2007 302
41 2 Nosing Around The Last Straw 17 April 2007 303
42 3 The Disappearing Drink Door Tour 18 April 2007 304
43 4 In a Bind Star Light, Star Bright 19 April 2007 305
44 5 Bedtime Story The Deep Duck Woods 20 April 2007 306
45 6 I Spy a Spider Robin in the Bat Cave 10 September 2007 307
46 7 Marble Mover Fair Shares 11 September 2007 308
47 8 The Feats of Peep Quack Goes Nuts 12 September 2007 309
48 9 The Sounds of Silence 13 September 2007 301
49 10 Big Bird Chirp Flies the Coop 14 September 2007 310

Season 4 (2010)

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Episode № Segment names Original airdate Prod code
Total Season First segment Second segment
50 1 The Lurmies are Coming Quack's Square Deal 2 February 2010 406
51 2 An Inconvenient Tooth 1 May 2010 401
52 3 Bringing Spring Quack's Pond Party 13 May 2010 403
53 4 You Can Count on Bunnies Falling Feathers 14 May 2010 405
54 5 Trading Places House of Sand and Frog 26 June 2010 402
55 6 Magic Duck Dancing Chirp Chirp Tweet Tweet Chirp 17 July 2010 404

Season 5 (2011)

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Episode № Segment names Original airdate Prod code
Total Season First segment Second segment
56 1 Two's a Crowd 10 October 2011 501
57 2 The Road Not Taken 11 October 2011 502
58 3 Soap Opera Diva Duck 12 October 2011 503
59 4 Quack and the Amazing Sandy Magic Duckball 13 October 2011 504
60 5 Things That Go Peep in the Night Mud Muddle 14 October 2011 505

Characters

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Main

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  • Peep (voiced by Scott Beaudin[14] in the first 3 seasons, Shawn Molko in Season 4 and Maxwell Uretsky in Season 5) is a male, yellow chicken who is very curious. He is the youngest bird of the group. The show's title is derived from his name. Peep is female in the original short film.
  • Chirp (voiced by Amanda Soha) is a female, red robin who is also curious, and attempts frequently to fly, with unsatisfying results, until "A Daring Duck", when she flies from the ground. In "Big Bird" she meets a real robin for the first time. She is Peep and Quack's friend. Chirp is male in the original short film.
  • Quack (voiced by Jamie Watson) is a male, blue-purple duckling who wears a white sailor's hat. He is older than Peep and Chirp, as they are still chicks. He frequently boasts about himself and ducks as a whole, and unwittingly makes many discoveries. Quack is purple in the original short film and is now referred to as blue, but is still quite indigo. He also seems to have a hoarding issue, as evidenced in the episode "An Inconvenient Tooth, Part 1".
  • The Narrator (voiced by Joan Cusack) is an omniscient voice who narrates each episode. She usually remains separate from the action, but occasionally characters are shown to be able to hear her and will interact with her.

Minor

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  • Ant (voiced by Robert Tinkler) is a busy male ant who is leader of the ants.
  • Beaver Boy (voiced by Tessa Marshall in the first three seasons and Amanda Gryniewski in the last two) is a young naïve male beaver who lives in an adjoining pond to Quack's. He appears in several episodes. His desire to please his mom and dad often results in him chewing down too many trees. He often calls Quack "Blue Sailor" Peep "Yellow Guy" and Chirp "Red Round".
  • Beaver Mom (voiced by Kathleen Laskey in Season 1 and Debra McGrath for the rest of the series) is Beaver Boy's workaholic mother.
  • Beaver Dad (voiced by Phillip Williams) is Beaver Boy's businesslike father.
  • Dragonfly (voiced by Catherine Disher) is a quiet dragonfly.
  • Fish (voiced by John McGrath in Season 1 and Rob Tinkler in Season 2) are cohabitations of Quack's pond.
  • Fish Jr. (voiced by Phoebe McAuley in the first two seasons and Sarah Commisso in Season 3) is the youngest fish in the pond and Quack's best fish friend.
  • Frog (voiced by Rob Tinkler) is a frog who lives in Quack's pond. He rarely talks.
  • Hoot (voiced by Corinne Conley) is a menacing, but kind purple female owl who lives in the Deep Dark Woods.
  • Nellie (voiced by Marium Carvell) is a red female dog who acts as a seemingly maternal figure for the birds.
  • Newton (voiced by Colin Fox) is an old, male, dark-green turtle who lives under an apple tree.
  • Quack #2 (voiced by Megan Mullally) is an annoying pink female duck who has her own pond, built by Quack, Peep, Chirp, Beaver Boy and his parents.
  • Rabbit (voiced by Jayne Eastwood) is an excitable and somewhat distracted rabbit.
  • Robin (voiced by Holly Hunter) is an adult robin.
  • Skunk (voiced by Adrian Truss) is a rather deadpan skunk who lives near Quack's pond.
  • Bat (voiced by Ron Rubin in Season 1 and Ron Pardo in Season 2) is a shy bat.
  • Squeak (voiced by Kathleen Laskey) is an anxious pink, female mouse who lives under a brick and always worries about what could go wrong.
  • Tom (voiced by Alex Hood in Season 1 and Matthew Knight in Season 2) is a sly, male blue kitten with black stripes who often tries to eat Peep, Chirp, and Quack. He is the sole antagonist.
  • Raccoon (voiced by Jeff Lumby) is a gobbo, male brown & black raccoon who has lots of rubbish
  • Blue Jays (voiced by David Huband for the male and Kathleen Laskey for the female) are silly blue and white birds who love to cause trouble when they see stuff.
  • Squirrel (voiced by Peter Wildman) is a brown squirrel with a long tail who favors acorns.
  • Robin (Season 1) (voiced by Kathleen Laskey) is a blue robin who flys around giving Chirp pep talks.
  • Bunnies (Season 1) (voiced by Melanie Tonello, Raquel Cadilha, and Alexander Conti respectively) are three bunnies who live in a rabbit hole and became Peep’s best friends.
  • Bunnies (Season 4-5) (voiced by Avigail Humphreys and Riele Downs respectively) are five bunnies who try to find their bunnysitter.
  • Bunnysitter (voiced by Jake Sim) is a bunny who babysits the 5 bunnies.
  • Groundhog (voiced by Rachel Marcus) is a young groundhog destined to find her shadow.
  • Splendid Bird from Paradise (voiced by Jabella A. Urrejola-Lugo) is a green parrot bird who was captured from the jungle, adopted by a girl and found her way in the Big Wide World.

Music composition

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Music for Peep and the Big Wide World is composed by Terry Tompkins and Steve D'Angelo, from Eggplant. The opening theme is performed by famous celebrity and musician Taj Mahal.[15]

Broadcast

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United States

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Peep and the Big Wide World was originally broadcast on TLC and Discovery Kids — the latter as part of the Ready Set Learn! preschool block — from April 12, 2004 to September 14, 2007. Reruns of the first three seasons continued to air until October 8, 2010 when Discovery Kids discontinued the block to make way for the new network to launch known as The Hub on October 10.

The last two seasons were broadcast exclusively on select local public television stations with episodes distributed by APT from January 4, 2010[16] to October 14, 2011, though second-runs of previous episodes began as early as April 1, 2007.[6][7] APT continued distributing reruns until January 3, 2018,[8] well after commercial networks dropped the program. A total of 60 episodes (120 segments) were broadcast.

On January 1, 2018, reruns of Peep and the Big Wide World began airing on the 24-hour PBS Kids channel,[9] marking the first time the series aired nationally on PBS Kids. Despite being a production of PBS station WGBH, Peep and the Big Wide World was turned down by PBS in 2003 in favor of developing programming directed at "slightly older children".[17] (The series was geared toward preschool children ages 3–5; meanwhile, PBS eventually launched the PBS Kids Go! block in 2004 which was intended for children above the preschool level.) The broadcast of the series ended on December 26, 2021, when it was replaced with reruns of Dinosaur Train to the 7:30 a.m. weekend morning timeslot.[18]

APT and PBS Kids broadcasts of Peep and the Big Wide World were paired with a short episode from Pocoyo which aired immediately after each show from 2010 to 2021.

Media

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Home video

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WGBH Boston Video released the episodes of the first season on DVD in 2005. The 2005 DVD releases each contained six segments of the specified subject; Peep Explores, Peep Finds, Peep Floats, Peep's New Friends, Chirp Flies, and Quack Knows It All. The 2007 DVD release, Peep Figures It Out contained six segments as usual, plus two bonus segments. In 2011, PBS Kids Video released two DVDs; Seasons of Adventure, and Star Light, Star Bright, which contains episodes from seasons two and three respectively. In 2012, PBS Kids Video released two more DVDs; Finders Keepers and Bringing Spring. In 2014, PBS Kids Video released two more DVDs; Diva Duck, and Peep Discovers (which was once available as a limited release to retail stores). As of 2024, all of these DVDs are now out of print and very hard to find, but commonly found at public libraries. In Canada, Entertainment One released four DVDs in both English and French languages; Quack Quack, Peep's Moon Mission, Stick With Me, and Flower Shower.

PBS LearningMedia shorts

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In 2017, WGBH released PEEP and the Big Wide World: Weather Factors, a media gallery in PBS LearningMedia's Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms project. Weather Factors contains 4 animated shorts: PEEP and the TOO Windy Day, PEEP and the Chilly Dam, PEEP and the Changing Sky, and PEEP and the Rainy, Snowy Day.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Peep and the Big Wide World". National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  2. ^ Lerner, Loren Ruth (1997). Canadian Film and Video: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature, Volume 1. University of Toronto Press. p. 218. ISBN 0802029884.
  3. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 447–448. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  4. ^ "Peep and the Big Wide World". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  5. ^ "The Peep Show". National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD - American Public Television". www.aptonline.org. Archived from the original on 6 November 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b "PEEP and the Big Wide World: FAQ". www.peepandthebigwideworld.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2024. And, starting in April 2007, look for PEEP on your local public television station.
  8. ^ a b "PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD II/POCOYO | American Public Television". www.aptonline.org. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine". issuu.com (January 2018): 22. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  10. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award # 0104700 - "Peep and the Big Wide World:" A Television Science Series for Three to Five Year Olds". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  11. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award # 0540273 - Peep and the Big Wide World (Season 3)". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  12. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award # 0741644 - Peep and The Big Wide World 'Anywhere Math' Initiative, Season 4". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  13. ^ "Learn about teaching science and math to Preschoolers with PEEP | Peep". 2023-05-29. Archived from the original on 2023-05-29. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  14. ^ "Peep and the Big Wide World Credits 2004". YouTube. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2020.[dead YouTube link]
  15. ^ "Opening video, with lyrics and credits on official page". Archived from the original on 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  16. ^ "Entry not found in index season NOT FOUND". Archived from the original on 2015-09-10.
  17. ^ Finucane, Martin (27 May 2003). "WGBH to Produce Commercial Show for Kids". Edwardsville Publishing Company. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  18. ^ "TV Schedules - AZPM". tv.azpm.org. Archived from the original on 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  19. ^ "PEEP and the Big Wide World: Weather Factors". PBS LearningMedia. Archived from the original on 2024-03-07. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
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